Olympiakos 2 Arsenal 1: Wenger blasts referee over equaliser

Olympiakos 2 Arsenal 1: Arsène Wenger fumes over the decision to award a corner in build-up to home side's equaliser

Arsène Wenger hit out at the referee for awarding Olympiakos the corner that led to their equaliser as Arsenal were beaten in Athens on Tuesday.

The Gunners were leading thanks to Tomas Rosicky’s 38th-minute opener but were pegged back in the 65th minute through Giannis Maniatis, before substitute Kostas Mitroglou secured the win for the Greek side.

Wenger felt referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco incorrectly pointed for a corner after a Paulo Machado header looked to have hit the post and went behind in the build-up to the home side’s equaliser.

“For their first goal, it was a goal kick, simple as that,” Wenger told ITV1. “What is the fifth referee doing behind the line? Nobody knows. I don’t think it was the right decision, but we have to cope with it. After that they scored a good goal.”

Wenger’s side missed the opportunity to top their group after Schakle’s 1-1 draw at Montpellier and marked the north Londoners’ second straight defeat after Saturday’s loss to Swansea City.

“We have to wait for the draw but ideally you want to finish first,” Wenger continued.

He added: “It was an interesting game. We had a good first half but dropped physically in the second.

“Many of the players are not used to that level. We had two or three chances to score a second but after that we know we can be in trouble. We needed the second goal tonight.”

The Arsenal boss, whose side have only one win in their last six Premier League games, refused to look ahead to the January transfer window and possible new recruits.

Wenger said: “It’s a key question that I cannot answer directly after a game like tonight. What is important is that we do well until January.

“We have big games coming up and we should focus on the players we have to win the games.”